John henby la bait



(No Model.)

J. H. LA BAU. PROCESS OPATTAOHING COMPOSITION LETTERS TO COMPOSITIONSURFACES. N0. 334;,786. Patented Jan. 26, 1886.

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A fro /VH NtTEE STATES PATENT UEErcE.

JOHN HENRY LA BAU, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AssIcNoH TO THE NEW HAVEN CLOCKooMPANY, OF sAME PLACE.

PROCESS OF ATTACHING COMPOSITION LETTERS TO COMPOSITION SURFACES.

E PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 334,786, dated January26, 1886.

Application filed December 7, 1885. Serial No. 185,028. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J oHN HENRY LA BAU,

' of the city of New York, county and State of New York, have invented acertain new and useful Improved Process of Attaching Composition Lettersto Composition Surfaces, of which the following is a clear, full, andexact description.

Figure 1 is a central section of a telegraph call-box constructedaccording to my invention. Fig. 2 is a face View of the same. Fig. 3 isa detail sectional View of the appliance for shaping the same. Fig. 4.-is an enlarged sectional view of part of said box.

This invention relates to a new process of forming letters oncomposition surfaces, and is useful for the construction of telegraphcall-boxes, marking-chips, &c. The composition itself is not part of thepresent invention, as it has already been utilized for sundry purposesin the arts. It is a composition which is rcndered plastic by heat, suchas sealing-wax.

My invention consists, principally, in attaching raised letters tocomposition surfaces by a process which consists, first, in fillingcavities in a proper mold with theplastic substancefor the letters, thenmelting said substance and allowing it to become hard, then filling themold further with the plastic substance for the holding-plate, thenmelting said substance and remelting said letters, and in then lettingboth the substance for the plate and that for the letters harden.

In the drawings, the letter A represents the back of a telegraphcall-box. B is the cylindrical shell of the same, and O is its face orfront. On the outer side of the faceplate 0 appear the letters or wordsthat are shown at a in Fig. 2. These letters or words it is theintention of my invention to form on the face of the box out of thesubstance thereof, but throughout of different color, so that thelettering of the box by hand may be avoided, and so, also, that if aportion of a letter shouldchip off, that part of the letter beneath willstill have the different tint. In order to produce this effect I preparea plate, D, (see Fig. 3,) in the face of which are engraved to theproper depth the letters a, that are to be produced 011 the face-plate0. Into the cavities thus produced in the plate D, I insert thecomposition, preferably in a finely powdered state, so that the cavitiesfor these letters shall just be filled with this composition. Thecomposition that is inserted into these cavities has the color of whichit is desired to produce the letters on the box. Heat is now applied tothe plate D, so as to melt the particles of the composition, therebyfilling the cavities with the solid letters. These are then allowed tocool and become hard. After this the plate D is made use of as thebottom of a mold, E. Intothis mold is inserted the composition for theplate 0, which composition is of the same character and kind as thatused for the letters, but of a totally different color. Thus if the bodyof the plate 0 is black the letters a may be red or yellow.

When the composition 0 is in the mold D E, heat is again applied,thereby remelting the contents of the cavities of the plate D, and alsomelting the substance of the contents of the mold, the effect being thatwhen afterward the mold is chilled the letters 64, throughout of thesame color, will adhere to the face of the differently-colored plate 0.

By first letting the letters harden and then filling in the plasticcomposition for the body of the plate 0, I prevent the two mixtures fromblending and forming uncertain outlines for the letters.

The particular advantage of this invention is, that the substance havingthe letters a thereon need not have the lettering painted .or stenciledon, thus saving considerable hand-labor, and also that the letters arefar less destructible than those which can be painted or stenciled ontosuch a surface.

The signal-box herein described has been made the subject of anotherapplication for a patent, which was filed February 6, 1885.

I claim in this application as my invention-- 7 The process described ofattaching letters to surfaces, which process consists in first fillingcavities in a proper mold with the plastic substance for the letters,then melting said substance and allowing it to become 5 hard, thenfilling the mold further with the plastic substance for'theholding-plate, then melting said substance and remelting said letters,and in then letting both the substance for the plate and that for theletters harden,

as specified.

' JOHN HENRY LA BAU.

Witnesses:

GUSTAV SOHNEPPE, JOHN M. SPEER.

